A Pennsylvania grand jury’s landmark report, linking more than 300 “predator priests” to clergy child sexual abuse, will be made public, the state’s Supreme Court said Friday.
The report details cases going back decades in six of Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic dioceses and includes allegations of cover-up efforts, the court said.
But the public version of the report will not include names or “individual specific information” of priests and others who have challenged the findings, at least in the initial version of the release.
Still, the court’s decision was hailed Friday by state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who called the ruling a “victory” for victims of abuse.
BREAKING: In a victory for victims, a redacted Grand Jury report into child sexual abuse within the Church will be released.
My statement: pic.twitter.com/ih6sozoJKw
— AG Josh Shapiro (@PAAttorneyGen) July 27, 2018
“Our fear throughout this process has been that the entire grand jury report would be shelved and victims’ truth would be silenced,” Shapiro said. “Today’s order ensures that will not be the case.”– READ MORE
[divider][/divider]A far-left candidate running for Congress in Pennsylvania has criticized a Supreme Court ruling that upheld laws meant to protect sexually abused children and opposed efforts to fund police and mandate minimum sentences for sexual harassment while serving as legislative director for a prominent criminal defense attorneys group.
Scott Wallace, the Democrat who is challenging incumbent Republican Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania’s first congressional district, is the grandson of former vice president Henry Wallace and inherited a fortune after his grandfather’s company was sold in the 1990s.
Later, in 1990, Wallace criticized a Supreme Court ruling that upheld laws allowing children who were sexually abused to be allowed to testify and be cross-examined at a separate location rather than being forced to testify while the alleged perpetrator sat across from them in court.
Wallace said the Supreme Court’s decision could lead to false accusations.
“This decision increases greatly the chances of a false accusation not being discovered and increases the risk of an innocent person being convicted and sent to prison,” Wallace said in a 1990 Newsday article. Wallace added that it “may send a signal to experiment with other kinds of witnesses where there is a likelihood of serious emotional trauma.”
Wallace later criticized a bipartisan crime bill passed by the U.S. Senate in 1993 that allocated more funding to police forces and mandated minimum sentencing guidelines for violent crimes in addition to crimes involving sexual harassment and offenses involving firearms, calling it “controversial” in a December 1993 column published in the Indianapolis Star. – READ MORE
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